Comments on Living with Birddogs: I think we've got a hatch this year in California

Roy, have you read Starker Leopold's book on Valle...

2009-07-12T09:09:29.115-07:00

Roy, have you read Starker Leopold's book on Valley Quail? He includes some great plots of quail reproduction as function of winter rains. I suspect that Gambel's are similar? Anything from no reproduction to huge double clutches seems to be possible. Glad to hear that you are in a good year.

We have had the best hatch of Gambel's quail in th...

2009-07-10T12:28:01.233-07:00

We have had the best hatch of Gambel's quail in the last 5 years, at least where I live in Arizona. As you may know, Gambel's quail can and do have enormous clutches when winter conditions are right. Of the broods that I see regularly, the champs are a pair that hatched 31 around the 1st of June. All of that brood has survived so far. Most of the broods that I see are in the 14-16 range and age varies from juveniles that are already adult size to just hatched bumble bee size chicks. We had a very cool June rearing period here, with temperatures the 2nd coolest on record (only June 1913 was cooler). Right now, though, it is hot, 103F on my shaded porch. Roy

It seems to me that upland game habitat issues in ...

2009-07-06T16:25:22.451-07:00

It seems to me that upland game habitat issues in California are different than many other states. We have a lot of national forest & BLM lands that have great potential for quail but they need to burn. Best quail hunts I've ever had were in 2005-2006 in San Diego, following a big burn and a wet year. Our state's meager sage grouse population faces the same problem - junipers grow into the meadows, eliminating the grouse. Of course development is also a major problem - one of my favorite dove spots has closed because of that - but more fire would be a big help.

Waterfowl of course is an entirely different issue. California has eliminated virtually all of its wetlands in order to capture water for human use.

Pete: that is reassuring news. With The State of ...

2009-07-06T12:55:31.398-07:00

Pete: that is reassuring news. With The State of the Birds national report http://www.stateofthebirds.org/ coming out this spring telling most of us what we already knew -- that loss of habitat on a national level especially has negatively impacted a significant number of species, it's reassuring to know that there's proof of what look like local success stories.

Up here in the northeast, I feel as though we have seen a lot more woodcock this spring than in previous years. Hopefully that's part of a trend, too.

best
Andrew

That sounds great! I wish the quail would make a c...

2009-07-06T11:33:37.399-07:00

That sounds great! I wish the quail would make a come back here.